Jaguar Land Rover is to cut more than 1,000 UK agency staff after losing £500m in three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK’s largest automotive company was on course to return to profit after last year’s record £3.6bn loss until the crisis took hold, wiping out its 2020 earnings in a matter of weeks.
The coronavirus lockdown has prompted some of the UK’s most prominent companies to announce large-scale job losses. The aviation, automotive and retail sectors have been among the worst hit, as businesses adjust to dramatically reduced revenue projections.
While the government’s job retention scheme has so far protected millions of jobs, fears are mounting that unemployment will rise as the scheme begins to be phased out from August.
Since lockdown began on 23 March, some of the UK’s largest companies have announced plans to cut a total of 60,000 jobs globally, many of which will fall in the UK.
Rolls-Royce - 9,000 jobs
The jet-engine manufacturer has confirmed that 3,000 job cuts, of a planned 9,000 worldwide, will be made in the UK. In May Rolls-Royce said it would make the first round of redundancies through a voluntary programme, with about 1,500 posts being lost at its headquarters in Derby, as well as 700 redundancies in Inchinnan, near Glasgow, another 200 at its Barnoldswick site in Lancashire, and 175 in Solihull, Warwickshire.
BP- 10,000 jobs
The oil company said in June it plans to make 10,000 people redundant worldwide, including an estimated 2,000 in the UK, by the end of the year. The BP chief executive, Bernard Looney, said that the majority of people affected would be those in office-based jobs, including at the most senior levels. BP said it would reduce the number of group leaders by a third, and protect the “frontline” of the company, in its operations.
Centrica- 5,000 jobs
The owner of British Gas announced in June that it intends to cut 5,000 jobs, mostly senior roles, and remove three layers of management, in a bid to simplify the structure of its business. The energy firm has a total workforce of 27,000, of whom 20,000 are in the UK.
Bentley- 1,000 jobs
The luxury carmaker intends to shrink its workforce by almost a quarter, slashing 1,000 roles through a voluntary redundancy scheme. The majority of Bentley’s 4,200 workers are based in Crewe in Cheshire.
Aston Martin Lagonda – 500 jobs
The Warwickshire-based luxury car manufacturer has announced 500 redundancies.
British Airways - 12,000 jobs
The UK flag carrier is holding consultations to make up to 12,000 of its staff redundant, a reduction of one in four jobs at the airline. BA intends to cut roles among its cabin crew, pilots and ground staff, while significantly reducing its operations at Gatwick airport.
Virgin Atlantic - 3,000-plus jobs
Richard Branson’s airline is to cut more than 3,000 jobs, more than a third of its workforce, and will shut its operations at Gatwick.
EasyJet – 4,500 jobs
The airline has announced plans to cut 4,500 employees, or 30% of its workforce.
Ryanair – 3,000 jobs
The Irish airline intends to slash 3,000 roles and reduce staff pay by up to a fifth.
Aer Lingus – 900 jobs
The Irish airline, part of International Airlines Group (IAG) plans to cut 900 jobs.
P&O Ferries – 1,100 jobs
The shipping firm intends to cut more than a quarter of its workforce, a loss of 1,100 jobs. The company, which operates passenger ferries between Dover and Calais, and across the Irish Sea, as well as Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, will initially offer employees voluntary redundancy.
JCB – 950 jobs
Digger maker JCB said in May up to 950 jobs are at risk after demand for its machines halved due to the coronavirus shutdown.
Ovo Energy – 2,600 jobs
Britain’s second biggest energy supplier announced in May it planned to cut 2,600 jobs and close offices after the lockdown saw more of its customer service move online.
Johnson Matthey – 2,500 jobs
The chemicals company said in June it is planning to make 2,500 redundancies worldwide over the next three years. The move will affect 17% of the workforce at the firm, which is a major supplier of material for catalytic converters.
Bombardier – 600 jobs
The Canadian plane maker will cut 600 jobs in Northern Ireland, as part of 2,500 redundancies announced in June.
The Restaurant Group – 1,500 jobs
The owner of Tex-Mex dining chain Chiquito, and other brands including Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, said in March that most branches of Chiquito and all 11 of its Food & Fuel pubs would not reopen after the lockdown, leading to the loss of 1,500 jobs.
Monsoon Accessorize – 345 jobs
The fashion brands were bought out of administration by their founder, Peter Simon, in June, in a deal which saw 35 stores close permanently and led to the loss of 545 jobs.
Clarks – 900 jobs
Clarks plans to cut 900 office jobs worldwide as part of a wider turnaround strategy
Oasis and Warehouse – 1,800 jobs
The fashion brands were bought out of administration by restructuring firm Hilco in April, in a deal which led to the permanently closure of all of their stores and the loss of more than 1,800 jobs.
Debenhams – 4,000 jobs
At least 4,000 jobs will be lost at Debenhams as a result of restructuring, following its collapse into administration in April, for the second time in a year.
Mulberry – 470 jobs
The luxury fashion and accessories brand said in June it is to cut 25% of its global workforce and has started a consultation with the 470 staff at risk.
Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100 jobs
The car firm is to cut 1,100 contract workers at manufacturing plants the UK, potentially affecting factories at Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.
Travis Perkins – 2,500 jobs
The builders’ merchant is cutting 2,500 jobs in the UK, accounting for almost a 10th of its 30,000-strong workforce. The company, which is behind DIY retailer Wickes and Toolstation, said the job losses will affect staff in areas including distribution, administrative roles and sales. The move will also affect staff across 165 stores that are now earmarked for closure.
The carmaker is now preparing to slash more than 1,000 contractors, potentially affecting factories at Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands. The decision came after JLR reported a loss of £501m before tax in its final quarter to the end of March, dragging it £422m into the red for the year as a whole.
Quarterly sales figures indicated the severity of the impact of the pandemic on global sales. JLR sold 509,000 cars during the year, 70,000 fewer than it did the year before.
Of the shortfall, 49,000 came in the fourth quarter as Covid-19 hit China, one of JLR’s most important markets, before spreading throughout the world. The result was that annual revenues came in £1.2bn lower at just under £23bn, with the fourth-quarter decline of £1.7bn reversing an improved performance in the first nine months.
JLR, owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, was already retrenching in the face of slumping sales of diesel vehicles and its own over-reliance on a Chinese market that had been sluggish even before the Covid-19 outbreak. It announced plans to shed 5,000 jobs last year after its record loss and set a cost-cutting target of £1bn by 2021.
In the light of Covid-19, it said on Monday that another 1,100 contract workers at its manufacturing plants would go and increased its savings goal to £5bn.
“Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance and achieve further operational efficiencies to enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business,” the company said in a statement.
“Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has taken the difficult decision to reduce the number of contract-agency employees in its manufacturing plants over the coming months.”
Des Quinn, national officer for trade union Unite, said: “It is another devastating blow for our auto sector and the communities that rely on them for jobs.
“We urge the government to get on with delivering the urgently needed sector support package, as other countries such as France and Germany have done, so that we can stem the tide of redundancies.”
But the company’s chief executive, Professor Sir Ralf Speth, said there was some cause for optimism in a nascent recovery in sales seen in China, as customers returned to showrooms. “Our operational fitness gives me confidence that we can weather this storm,” he said.
JLR said it was planning for a “gradual recovery” and pointed to spring sales in China, which were down a mere 3% in April and 4% up on last year’s May performance, with sales of Range Rovers particularly encouraging.
The company borrowed 5bn yuan (£560m) from five Chinese banks this month after failing to qualify for loans from the Treasury and Bank of England because of its “junk” investment rating.
After shutting down its car plants worldwide, it has resumed production at sites including Halewood and Solihull, although Castle Bromwich remains closed.
